What Caught My Eye Today - Texas, The Universe, Asteroids, Space

Fred's Note: Today's items fall into the "out of this world" category, and I mean that quite literally. We'll begin our inter galactic voyage with the the fine folks from another planet, otherwise known as Texas.

Texas - A Texas lawmaker has proposed a bill to create a Texas Bullion Depository, which would allow the state and its citizens to store gold bullion in its own facility in Texas, with the protection of the state. They went way out on a limb to come with the catchy nickname, "The Fort Knox of Texas". Gold is considered a hedge against inflation. And while inflation is currently low in the U.S.,  an uptick could come later this year or early next year. If people were to lose faith in the dollar, Texas could have the foundation for its own currency, of sorts, which could come in handy if they push forward in trying to secede. As if that would ever happen. Then again...(click here). Texas isn't the first state to think about hedging its monetary destiny with precious metals. Citing concerns over the value of the U.S. dollar, Arizona lawmakers are the latest to pursue legislation that would declare privately minted gold and silver coins legal tender. In 2011, Utah became the first state in the country to legalize these precious metal coins as currency. Lawmakers in Minnesota, North Carolina, Idaho, South Carolina, and Colorado have debated similar laws.  Is it just me or is there a common thread shared by most of these states.  Perhaps a red thread?  

The Universe - New results from a look into the split second after the Big Bang indicate the universe is 80 million years older than previously thought. Those results have now added about 80 million years to the universe's age, putting it 13.81 billion years old. Put into slightly simpler terms, the universe is 0.6% older than previously thought. The Big Bang is the most comprehensive theory of the universe's beginning. It says the visible portion of the universe was smaller than an atom when, in a split second, it exploded, cooled and expanded rapidly, much faster than the speed of light. In an attempt to acknowledge various schools of thought on this topic, let me first address the creationists among us. Yet more hokum from godless  scientists who, no doubt, will burn in hell for all eternity.  For those readers who choose to embrace that which is based on actual fact, it is pretty cool that humankind has the wherewithal to fine tune it understanding of the universe with such precision. That said, I cannot help but question what make the science community think they got the age right this time around.

Asteroids - NASA has advice on how to handle a large asteroid headed toward New York City: Pray. Kind of ironic don't you think? All that science and technology, and the best NASA can come up with is to pray. That's about all the United States - or anyone for that matter - could do at this point about unknown asteroids and meteors that may be on a collision course with Earth, NASA's chief told lawmakers at a U.S. House of Representatives Science Committee hearing. On the bright side, while your physical being will be toast, your soul will be well provided for, assuming the guy upstairs heard you. NASA has found and is tracking about 95% of the largest objects flying near Earth, those that are .62 miles or larger in diameter. An asteroid of that size, a kilometer or bigger, could plausibly end civilization. On average, objects of that size are estimated to hit Earth about once every 1,000 years. About 66 million years ago, an object 6 miles in diameter is believed to have smashed into what is now the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, leading to the demise of the dinosaurs, as well as most plant and animal life on Earth. The asteroid that exploded over Russia last month was the largest object to hit Earth's atmosphere since the 1908 Tunguska event when an asteroid or comet exploded over Siberia, leveling 80 million trees over more than 830 square miles. I've always believed that perspective matters a great deal when it comes to forming opinion. For as much influence that humankind has on the planet Earth, it pales in to comparison to what Mother Nature can do (and often does) when she feels like it.  It's sort of the same deal when you compare Earth's place in the universe.  In a lot of ways, the Earth (and by extension, us) exists by pure luck.  

Space - Voyager 1, launched in 1977 to explore the outer planets, has passed into a new region on its way out of the solar system. The spacecraft, now more than 11 billion miles away, detected two distinct and related changes in its environment on August 25, 2012. The probe detected dramatic changes in the levels of two types of radiation, one that stays inside the solar system, the other which comes from interstellar space. The probe, which blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on September 5, 1977, may be in a new and previously unknown boundary region between the heliosphere and interstellar space. In December, scientists said Voyager had reached what they called a "magnetic highway," where magnetic field lines from the sun connect with magnetic field lines from interstellar space. Voyager project scientists believe Voyager is just a few months to a couple of years away from leaving the solar system.  This is really rather remarkable if you think about it.  We put humankind on the moon using 1960s technology and still have contact with man-made objects build in the 1970s that are 11 billion miles from Earth. And in spite of all this, I still cannot figure out how to upgrade the operating system on my stupid smartphone.